#204 Ryne Duren

Ryne Duren  New York Yankees

Career: Duren battled poor eyesight, wildness, and a drinking problem but overcame them all to forge an All-Star career and a post-playing life dedicated to helping teens and ballplayers with their own issues. He banged around the minors as a starting pitcher through several organizations for eight years before finding his niche in the Yankees' bullpen in 1958.

Duren led the league in saves that rookie year and was second in the RoY race. He pitched for the Yanks for four seasons and in two World Series. He had a save in the '58 Series that was very typical of him...two innings, no hits, three walks. His Yankee star faded after 1959 before moving on through several more clubs including the Angels in 1961.  That year he made his third AL All-Star team (after a trade from the Yanks in May) in a season he had a 5.19 ERA.

His final season in pro ball was in 1965 but by then his life had slid off a cliff, and he found himself without a payday. His path soon took even darker turns until nearly two years of being institutionalized changed him. He spent the rest of his days as an addiction counselor. 

In 1960: Coming off two excellent seasons Duren had problems in 1960 and didn't pitch well, or often. He had only eight saves and posted an ERA close to 5.

Off The Charts: Duren wrote two books about his career and life. His SABR bio is highly recommended.

Mt father loved Ryne Duren. He delighted in telling me that Duren would throw warm-up pitches to the backstop and squint at the catcher's signs to scare hitters. I don't recall ever seeing either but it sure tickled my Dad.

#203 Sammy White

Sammy White  Boston Red Sox

Career: White held down the Red Sox catchers job from 1952 through 1959. He was a career .262 hitter with exceptional skills behind the plate. He had spent three years in the Sox' system before his rookie year when he hit .281 and was third in the AL RoY voting in a very close race with 15-game winner Harry Byrd of the A's and fellow catcher Gus Triandos of the Browns.

White played briefly and sparingly for the Braves and Phils to close out his career in 1961/62. He then ran his bowling center and was a golf pro in Hawaii.

In 1960: He was traded to the Indians in March but rather than report to Cleveland's spring camp, White 'retired', and spent his year at his business. He was talked out of retirement by the Braves the following summer to fill in for an injured Del Crandall.

Off The Charts: White's SABR bio has this to say about his defensive abilities: Casey Stengel, who managed the New York Yankees to six American League pennants and four world championships during White’s tenure as the regular Red Sox catcher, was one of Sammy’s biggest fans. Stengel got to see White in action up to 22 times each year under the old 154-game schedule, and he used to shake his head at Sammy’s ability to “frame” a pitch. “He [White] steals more strikes from umpires than anyone else,” Stengel would tell anyone who would listen. “I’m not being critical,” Stengel would add, “I’m just bowing to his skill.”

#236 Dick Ricketts

Dick Ricketts  St. Louis Cardinals

Career: Dick Ricketts (and fellow big leaguer brother Dave) were basketball and baseball stars from Pottstown, Pa. Dick went on to excel in hoops at Duchesne University and was the #1 overall pick in the 1955 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks. For a few years, Ricketts spread his talents over two pro sports. He pitched in the Cards' chain while also playing in the NBA. Ricketts played three seasons for the Hawks and Royals before turning to baseball fulltime.

Ricketts had a decade-long minor league career as a pitcher in the systems of the Cards and Phils. He made the majors with St. Louis in the middle of 1959 and appeared in a dozen games, nine being starts. He went 1-6 and his other numbers were no better. That six-week run was the extent of his big league career.

In 1960: Ricketts had spent his last days as a major league player at this point. He spent the season with Rochester of the International League, a Cardinals' AAA club. In 30 starts he went 9-13 with an ERA over 4.30 and was pitching his way out of the Cards' organization.

Off The Charts: While his brother Dave was a catcher for the Cardinals, the two were never a battery for the team. In fact, Dave was serving in the military during Dick's brief St. Louis run. But they were both in Rochester with the AAA RedWings in 1957 and 1960. Dave, newly signed and arriving in June of that '57 season, was behind the plate for Dick's near no-hitter on the 12th. In that game, Dick had a two-out, two-strike situation in the ninth when he allowed that one hit. Dave Ricketts reached the majors in 1963.

Wikipedia tells us that "[Dick] Ricketts is one of 13 athletes to play in both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. The 13 are: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, Michael Jordan, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts and Howie Schultz."

The Card: Dick Ricketts had his rookie baseball card in 1959:

But prior to that, he had a card in the Topps hoops set from 1957:

#202 Fred Kipp

Fred Kipp  Los Angeles Dodgers

Career: Fred Kipp began his run with the Dodgers in Brooklyn when he signed in 1953. He had a really good year with a couple of their Class B clubs and then spent time with the US Army. He had some up and down results as a starter over three seasons in the minors before sticking with the Dodgers as a knuckleballing reliever in 1958. His numbers were not good.

Kipp was back in the minors in '59 and got a late call-up but wasn't on their World Series roster. The next three years were spent mostly at the top levels of the Yankees' system.

In all, he had a career mark of 6-7 in 47 games in the majors.

In 1960: Kipp was traded (at his request) to the Yankees on the eve of the season's opening. He made four appearances in pinstripes through the end of May and then was sent down to AAA Richmond where he had a fine year out of the bullpen.

Off The Charts: Kipp pitched (ever so briefly) on consecutive Series-winning staffs, the '59 Dodgers, and '60 Yanks. He totaled six games and seven innings.

Kipp has a website for the 2018 book he co-wrote with his son entitled The Last Yankee Dodger. The title comes from his being the last living player to have been a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, The LA Dodgers, and the Yankees.

I had forgotten about his 1959 card and dug up my old post from that blog. Another Memorial Coliseum shot.

Some notes from that post...

Kipp is a member of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame (don't laugh, Walter Johnson is in there, too. So is Ralph Houk) and attended Emporia State. I had a good friend who went there after we graduated high school in Jersey. Never really told me why.

#201 Larry Osborne

Larry 'Bobo' Osborne  Detroit Tigers

Career: Bobo (or just 'Bo') Osborne must have loved baseball because he spent a lot of time riding the busses through the minors both before and after his major league career. He had passed up a football scholarship at Auburn and signed with the Tigers in 1953. He fought his way up the ladder and finally won a job with the Tigers in 1959. The Georgia native played about half the games that year, mostly at first.

He returned to the Tigers after another minor league season and spent '62/'63 as a bench piece who didn't see much playing time. A trade to the Senators saw him get a full-time spot for the first and only time in the bigs. He played in 125 games for the Nationals, struggled at the plate, and then returned to the minors where he stuck it out for six more years. He was later a scout for the Giants.

In 1960: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution summed it all up in his obit in 2011:

In 1960, Mr. Osborne enjoyed what might have been the highlight of his baseball career. Playing for Denver, the Detroit Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate, he battled Carl Yastrzemski, a Red Sox prospect with Minneapolis at the time, for the American Association batting title. It was decided over the last two games of the season, with Mr. Osborne winning with a .342 batting average to Yastrzemski’s .339. With 34 home runs and 119 RBIs, Mr. Osborne also was the league triple crown winner that season.

Off The Charts: Bobo's dad, Tiny, was a pitcher for the Cubs and Dodgers in the 20s. That is mentioned with the cartoon on the back.

The Card: I haven't noticed a lot of Tiger Stadium shots in this set. But this is one of them. I'm happy that the checklist has progressed back to the cream-colored card backs. The gold/cream/black backs rank up there with my all-time favorites. Nice color combo on the front, too.

EDITED TO ADD: Since I have mostly completed my research into the set's color combos I have found that Osborne's card is the first one in the checklist that has red as the first color in the name. Up until this point every one-player card had the name printed with yellow or black as the first letter.

#200 Willie Mays

Willie Mays  San Francisco Giants

Career: We all know the Willie Mays legacy. Here is a look at the summary from Baseball-Reference's Wiki page:

Notable Achievements...

•     1951 NL Rookie of the Year Award
•     20-time NL All-Star (1954-1973)
•     2-time NL MVP (1954 & 1965)
•     1963 All-Star Game MVP
•     1968 All-Star Game MVP
•     12-time Gold Glove Winner (1957/ML-CF, 1958-1960/NL-CF & 1961-1968/NL-OF)
•     NL Batting Average Leader (1954)
•     2-time NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1965 & 1971)
•     5-time NL Slugging Percentage Leader (1954, 1955, 1957, 1964 & 1965)
•     5-time NL OPS Leader (1954, 1955, 1958, 1964 & 1965)
•     2-time NL Runs Scored Leader (1958-1961)
•     NL Hits Leader (1960)
•     3-time NL Total Bases Leader (1955, 1962 & 1965)
•     3-time NL Triples Leader (1954, 1955 & 1957)
•     4-time NL Home Runs Leader (1955, 1962, 1964 & 1965)
•     NL Bases on Balls Leader (1971)
•     4-time NL Stolen Bases Leader (1956-1959)
•     20-Home Run Seasons: 17 (1951, 1954-1968 & 1970)
•     30-Home Run Seasons: 11 (1954-1957, 1959 & 1961-1966)
•     40-Home Run Seasons: 6 (1954, 1955, 1961, 1962, 1964 & 1965)
•     50-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1955 & 1965)
•     100 RBI Seasons: 10 (1954, 1955 & 1959-1966)
•     100 Runs Scored Seasons: 12 (1954-1965)
•     200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1958)
•     Won a World Series with the New York Giants in 1954
•     Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1979

In 1960: Mays led the NL with 190 hits, had 29 homers (slightly below his peak seasons average), drove in 103, hit .319, won a Gold Glove, finished third in the MVP race.

Off The Charts: Mays has a new book out this spring. In it, he discusses how close he was to signing with the Boston Red Sox when he was playing for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1950. The Sox' scout had a deal in place but was overruled by their front office. Mays in Center, Ted Williams in Left. Hmmmm.

#199 Dick Donovan

Dick Donovan  Chicago White Sox

Career: Dick Donavan's career was a series of peaks and valleys. His first peak came in the second half of the 50s when he was a front-line starter for the White Sox and earned All-Star recognition. He averaged about 15 wins a year over a four-year span and in 1957 was second in the Cy Young voting. He also pitched very well in the '59 Series versus the Dodgers in a losing cause.

Donavan's second peak came with the Senators and Indians in the early 60s when again he was an All-Star and he had a 20-win season for the Tribe. He also won an ERA crown in the AL.

In 1960: In between those peaks came this valley. With a sore arm, Donavan pitched only 79 innings and was hit hard in pretty much all of them. It was bad enough that he was left exposed in the expansion draft and he ended up with Washington in 1961. That move led to his resurgence, his early 60s peak.

Off the Charts: According to Wikipedia...His friend Wyatt gave him the idea to sell insurance, and Donovan had a home business selling insurance during his MLB career. In 1963, he earned his stockbroker's license and joined the Boston-based firm Eastman & Dillon. After his baseball career, he served as the executive vice president for Bache & Co. In 1980, he opened a real estate appraisal office in Quincy, which he ran until 1994. Additionally, Donovan served as a distributor with Earth Care Products, a Quincy company that makes products out of recycled plastic.